Amidst the noise of the market, too many traders spend their entire lives chasing a dream—precise entry points, perfect bottoms, capturing big trends. But few truly stop to ask themselves: what exactly am I trading?

It sounds simple—trading is just buying low and selling high. But beneath this surface, the true nature is much more complex.

**On the surface, trading is asset exchange**

Stocks, cryptocurrencies, futures—just different labels. Arbitrage is the reason everyone steps into the market on day one. No one says, "I'm here to experience the illusion of the market," right? But here’s the key—what truly determines whether you make money or not isn’t the price itself, but your understanding of what’s behind the price.

**Looking deeper, trading is a test of cognition**

Imagine a bullish candle breaking through a resistance level right in front of you. A novice sees "an opportunity, buy the dip," while an experienced trader’s mind is racing: Is the volume matching? Is the main force trying to lure more buyers? That’s the gap in cognition.

When bad news hits, some panic and cut their losses, running away. Others stay calm and analyze whether the bad news has been fully priced in, whether the price has truly returned to a reasonable valuation. Two people see the same news but make completely different decisions.

Your understanding of market trends, your judgment of capital flow, your grasp of macro environment and cycles—all these add up to your "cognitive framework." Gains beyond this framework? Either luck or self-deception.

**More painfully, it’s human nature**

A seasoned trader once said something that sounds harsh but is very true: "You can never earn more than your cognition allows, unless by luck. But money earned by luck will eventually be lost through strength."

Why? Because when prices fluctuate, human greed, fear, and complacency surface. You hesitate to cut losses when needed, and when it’s time to take profits, you want to wait a bit longer. Knowing full well that chasing highs can lead to getting trapped, yet still unable to resist the greed of rising prices.

Overcoming human nature is a hundred times harder than learning technical indicators. Anyone can read candlestick charts, but few can stay rational during losses.

**Finally, trading is also a game of probabilities**

There are no absolute certainties—only the accumulation of probabilities. One correct prediction isn’t a sign of ability; only after ten correct predictions do you have the right to speak. But to achieve this, your cognitive framework must be solid enough, and your human nature disciplined enough.

Therefore, trading is never about pinpointing exact levels; it’s a triple cultivation of cognition, human nature, and probability. Choose to upgrade your cognitive framework diligently, stay calm amid volatility, and use time to verify probabilities—this is the true path of trading.